A Single Shutter
by YuMoriChii
Summary: Honda Kiku has a problem: splendid isolation. To cure this, he was assigned to work at France to be a photographer for a French travel magazine. There he meets model Francis Bonnefoy, who swore to make the Japanese man come out of his shell.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia or anything related to it. It belongs to an epic man in the name of Himaruya Hidekaz.**

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Chapter 1

Kiku packed his clothes into his suitcase. It was a day before his flight to France wherein he was assigned to be a photographer for Ciel*, a French travel magazine. He decided that it was the safest choice since French magazines are usually grotesque and revealing. Despite already having read a lot of hentai, yaoi, and yuri mangas, he's still not prepared to see a naked body in personal.

He sighed nervously and felt a shiver down his spine. It was his first time to be out of Japan, and he's not used to the feeling of leaving his home. All his life, he had spent every single day at work. If not, he would plop down his bed and read manga. He rarely hangs out with friends, and if he does, it would be at the coffee shop near the workplace. It's not that he doesn't want to socialise. It's just that he grew up in a very secluded environment with strict parents, and he had gotten used to staying at home and rarely going outside. He has lived with the belief that the outside world might do him harm, so he forced himself to stay away from people, even if it means having no friends at all.

But then he realized that being isolated from everyone else doesn't solve anything, and so he chose photography. Little by little, he's getting himself used to people. However, that feeling of anxiety still wouldn't leave him, and that's when the boss decided to take him to France.

Kiku pushed his thoughts away as he laid his back on the bed. He was going to miss Japan. A lot. As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn't or else his work would disappear in a flash. Besides, it's only France, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. What bad could happen?

Or so he thought...

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Kiku had a jetlag. He didn't expect that a plane ride would be so exhausting. He had to go through a lot of inspections, his suitcase was so heavy, and the plane was too crowded, according to him, that is. He never had the chance to truly appreciate France's beauty for he had gone straight to his hotel room after the arrival.

The room was a large Western-style room with a double bed and a television on the wall in front of it. There were two tables-one side table and one study table-beside the bed and on its left was a door leading to the balcony. The bathroom was the room in front the main door, and right beside it was the closet. French paintings adjourned the wall, adding a bit of a Renaissance feel to the room. Kiku thought it looked dashing, though he had a hard time getting himself used to the room.

The Japanese man went straight to the bed, startling a bit when he bounced on the soft mattress. His eyelids had gotten heavy as he yawned. He was so tired that he didn't bother to pull the covers. He just closed his eyes, hoping that he would be able to get a good rest.

That is, until his phone rang with his boss's name flashing on the screen. Kiku groaned, annoyed at his boss's inability to differentiate 30 minutes from 10. He reached for the phone in his pocket and answered the bleeding call.

"Kiku, you need to come here now aru! The magazine's editor-in-charge is looking for you aru!" his boss Wang Yao's voice blasted from the other line. Kiku rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. When Yao panics, he doesn't have any other choice than to follow the older man or else he'll have to suffer endless whining about laziness and Hello Kitty. Somehow, every conversation with Yao always ends with Hello Kitty.

Kiku forced himself to get up and grabbed his SLR camera. It's just for a few minutes, he thought. His boss better treat him to dinner after this.

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"Ah, Kiku! You're finally here aru!" Yao stood up from his seat to accompany the Japanese man to their table. There were two men sitting across their table. One had whitish blonde hair and vibrant purple eyes, while the other had long blonde hair flowing until his shoulders, a very short stubble resting on his chin, and brilliant blue eyes resembling the deep blue ocean in which one might drown if he wasn't careful enough.

"Mr. Ivan, Mr. Francis, this is Honda Kiku, one of my most talented photographers." Yao introduced as Kiku bowed down in front of the two men.

"Zdrasvuite**, comrade! I'm Ivan Braginsky, editor-in-chief of Ciel." The taller purple eyed-man stood and shook Kiku's hand.

The long-haired man stood up as well and cleared his throat. He looked at Kiku with interested eyes and said, "Bonjour. Je m'appelle Francis Bonnefoy." He lifted Kiku's hand to his face to plant a small kiss on it, but the Japanese man immediately pulled it away with a straight face. 'Hmm, so stubborn.' Francis thought, smirking at Kiku's cold expression.

The four sat down and ordered their beverages as the two bosses discuss about their upcoming projects. Kiku browsed through his SLR's pictures, yawning every now and then. Soon, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He looked up to Francis on the other side of the table sipping a glass of iced coffee with eyes settled at his façade. Kiku found it uncomfortable, pulling off a scowl.

"Please don't do that." He demanded to the Frenchman, drinking his own cup of what they say was Maccha green tea, though it didn't really taste like it.

"Do what?" Francis teased, leaning closer to the black-haired photographer.

"That. I don't find it comfortable when people look at me for a long time."

"Is that so?" Francis finished the remaining dregs of his coffee before turning back to Kiku. "How could you be a photographer, then? People basically look at you for a long time when you take their pictures."

"I take pictures of nature and landscapes. I rarely take photoshoots with human models, and if I do, it's only because the actual photographer is absent and I'm just acting as substitute."

Francis raised an eyebrow at the reserved Japanese man. His charms wouldn't work on him, and it's the first time Francis experienced such rejection. Interesting.

After the long conversation between the two bosses, they all agreed to start the photoshoot tomorrow after breakfast. Ivan gave his business card to Yao and Kiku; Kiku did the same.

"Oh, wait!" Francis retorted, grabbing a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote his number on it. He gave it to Kiku who was hesitant whether he'll take it or not. 'It was like asking yourself if you want your virginity taken or not.' Kiku thought, rejecting the French man with a headshake. He gained confused stares from Yao and Ivan, who shrugged it off with a laugh.

"He's just that shy aru." Yao told Francis, who nodded in understanding. Yao instead took the paper from the French man's hands and kept it inside his pocket.

Before they parted ways, Francis made sure he gave the reserved photographer a flying kiss, which Kiku only ignored. Kiku doesn't like him. He thought Francis seemed too confident for him, but he hoped that it was just a first impression. He wouldn't want to work with somebody whose ego is even bigger than his brain.

"Oh, yeah, Kiku?" Yao called, shoving Kiku's thoughts for a while. "I know a great French restaurant nearby. I'll take you there as an apology for taking away your remaining 20 minutes aru."

Kiku turned to his boss and smiled. He guessed his boss could tell time after all.

End of Chapter 1

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Finally! I've published my first multi-chappie fic! France*Japan is one of my greatest TP's and it saddens me that only a few acknowledges them. This was supposed to be a personal fanfic, but because of ImDREW and her inspiring words, I decided that I'll put it here in FF. Thanks, Gam! You really are the best! OTL

*Ciel is a French word meaning "sky." It's one of the few French words I know. I wasn't using a translator at the time I was writing this. But it works! It's a travel magazine after all!  
**Russian for "hello"

If there are any mistakes, please do point it out so that I could fix it soon. ^^

Should I continue this? Please review! It would make an alien happy, and I'm an alien! XD


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hetalia in any way. Philippines would be a character, if I did.**

Chapter 2

Kiku's morning wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. He woke up at 7:00am, just in time for the room service to bring his breakfast. Being used to his Japanese-styled room, he kneeled down on the floor to eat as if he were using a kotatsu. The breakfast was the usual egg, bacon, and fried rice, however, the rice was cooked with various vegetables and spices, making it the main highlight of the dish. It was tasty, but nothing compared to what his mother would cook for him back home

After satisfying himself with the delicious meal, he had noticed his untouched suitcase still sitting beside the bed. He had completely forgotten about it! He made a mental note to unpack as soon as he finished clearing away his used dishes for the room service to collect later.

As he put the first batch of his clothes inside the closet, his phone blasted a familiar tune of a Japanese boyband singing "thank you" in different languages. As much as he'd love to leave it be and listen to the song instead, he couldn't for it might be his childish boss again waiting for an immediate reply.

Leaving his baggage for a while, he approached his bed and flipped open his phone to reveal an unknown number.

'That's strange.' Kiku thought. 'Who could this be?'

He opened the mail to see a message typed in French. "Bonjour~! Comment allez-vous, mon chéri?* ;)" Kiku read, ignoring the strange smiley at the end of the short text. He didn't even have to guess whoever was the mysterious sender. With the way the message was typed, he immediately knew who it was.

Not anymore interested at the message, he returned to arranging his clothes. The phone kept playing the same song throughout the unpacking process, and he was already close to snapping when he heard it for the 12th time. Kiku once again checked his phone to see a total of 12 unread mails, all from that stubborn Frenchman. Every single message only said the same thing: "You there?" After scrolling to the bottom, he heard the phone ring again for another mail. Same person, same words. He was trying his best to pull back any gruesome emotions towards the sender.

But then, he had to reply soon, or else his inbox would be full of spam messages.

"I would highly appreciate it if you would stop pestering me. I'm very busy at the moment."

In just a few seconds, he got a reply saying, "Oh, my deepest apologies. See you at work later, Monsieur Honda. ;*"

After reading the mail, Kiku threw his phone back at the mattress and went to his wardrobe to pick which clothes he should wear today. A black vest caught his eye, so he chose it along with a blue vertically striped dress shirt and khaki pants, setting it on his bed. He grabbed a towel and a bath robe before closing the closet and going straight to the bathroom.

The first site was the country's most well-known structure, the Eiffel Tower. Yao brought his own camera to take pictures of the tower at his own accord as Kiku discussed some important guidelines with Ivan.

As Ivan spoke, Kiku noted every instruction the editor said. He learned that the theme was 'Spring at Paris.' After a few minutes of discussing, Ivan called Francis, who was currently flirting with some French lady. The blonde greeted Kiku a smirk, who was given a cold glare in return. Ivan signaled for the photoshoot to start as Francis got himself set.

Kiku took a whole lot of shots at the first minute, however he was unsatisfied with how it turned out. Although Francis was, Kiku had to admit, great at posing, the Japanese man couldn't really feel the spring theme. After a few contemplations, he noticed a rose bush nearby the French man and suddenly got an idea. He picked one flower from the bush, careful that he might get pricked by its dangerous thorns, then gave it to Francis who, of course, mistook it for something else.

"Our photoshoot had just began, and you already had those kinds of feelings for me, Honda?" Francis laughed in seductive tones, which only annoyed the Japanese photographer.

"It's part of the photoshoot. Please pose with that." Kiku tried sounding as polite as possible, returning to his earlier position. Francis brought the flower to his lips as if kissing it, intentionally making his photographer blush. Kiku mentally cursed himself for not controlling his emotions too well as he took more shots of the French model.

The photoshoot ended quickly, just in time for lunch. Kiku agreed with Francis taking him to a nearby restaurant, remembering that he had a lot of things to discuss with the French man.

"Are you finally going to ask me out, mon cheri?" Francis announced, almost making Kiku spit out his drink.

"Don't be ridiculous." Kiku quietly snapped, wiping his mouth free of any milkshake moustaches. "I'm here to ask where you got my number."

Francis raised an eyebrow at him. "From Ivan, of course." the blonde replied. "As far as I could remember, you're the one who gave him your business card."

"That's the point. I gave it to _him_, not to _you._ It's for business and business only."

"Honda, he's my boss. It's normal that he would give me that number for I'm one of his magazine employees and, not to mention, your model. Plus, you're in France, the city of l'amour." Francis dragged his chair closer to the Asian as he cupped Kiku's chin in his hand. "You should've known by then that people here love to flirt with whoever they think is beautiful." he whispered seductively before attempting to lock his lips with the photographer's own until he felt a strong hand hit his face, sending him flying off his chair. Touching his painful cheek, he looked up to see an enraged Kiku standing with a fist held up.

"No one invades my personal space." Kiku told the injured Frenchman as he grabbed his camera bag and hurriedly barged out the restaurant, leaving Francis sitting on the floor startled, confused, and cheek bruised.

End of Chapter 2

Hey you guys! Ohoho! Thank you for reading this little story of mine! Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it!

This chapter is real short, ain't it? I'm very sorry about that! I'll try to make my future chapters longer. I'm still new to writing multi-chapter fanfics! OTL

About Kiku's outfit, it was based on Arte Stella's cover. He looked so gentlemanly there, and it's one of my favorite outfits, too! Maybe I'll try to draw it one day, if I have the time.

And oh yeah, can anyone guess what Kiku's ringtone is? A clue is that it's sung by a 9-membered (formerly 10-membered) boyband.

For some notes:

*"How are you, my dear?" in French

Please review! I would like to know if you guys like my story or not! ^^


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